Steering columns that collapse during vehicle crashes are known in the art. During front impact vehicle crashes, the occupant of the vehicle is moved in a forward direction within the vehicle and towards the steering wheel until the occupant ultimately strikes or impacts the steering wheel. Since impact forces between the occupant and the steering wheel may be undesirably high, the steering column may be constructed to collapse in a direction away from the occupant to reduce impact reaction forces. In particular, the steering column may be constructed as a telescoping unit in which pins or rods maintain the telescoping members in an extended condition during normal operation of the vehicle but break upon occupant impact with the steering wheel to allow the telescoping members to retract within one another to reduce impact forces between the occupant and the steering wheel.
While a telescoping steering column is useful for front or rear impact vehicle collisions, such telescoping steering columns do not collapse if the occupant strikes the underside of either the steering column or the steering wheel. These situations arise in military settings when the vehicle drives over or otherwise is impacted by an explosive device that causes the occupant to travel upward towards the roof of the vehicle, resulting in the occupant's legs striking the underside of the steering column and/or steering wheel with high impact forces. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a device that reduces impact forces between an occupant and the steering column when the occupant strikes the underside of the steering column and/or steering wheel.